Taking His Last Shot at the Olympics, Meb Has “Nothing to Lose”

At the 2012 Olympic Marathon, Meb Keflezighi was old. At least by elite distance running standards. He was 36 and outranked his American teammates Abdi Abdirahman by one year and Ryan Hallby seven. When he won the Olympic Trials in 2:09:08 in Houston seven months earlier, he became the oldest American male to ever do so.

Then, on that warm summer afternoon in August, he passed five runners in the last seven miles to claim fourth in London. Supporters—more than 50 of Keflezighi’s friends and family who didn’t want to miss what they assumed was his final competition in the USA singlet—gathered at a restaurant after the race to celebrate the surprising finish. Four years seemed like a long way away.

Yet Keflezighi, who won the 2004 Olympic silver medal in the marathon, is still competing. Away from his San Diego home, he’s currently tapering at altitude in Mammoth Lakes, California, for the February 13 trials in Los Angeles. At 40 years old, he has the fastest qualifying time of the field, 2:08:37 from his 2014 Boston Marathon victory, and is a favorite to make the team. His teammates from 2012 will be notably missing on the starting line. Abdirahman will skip the trials to recover from a calf injury, while Hall announced his retirement from competitive running in January at age 33.

“I keep asking people, 'What time does the masters race start?'” Bob Larsen, who has coached Keflezighi for 22 years, said with a laugh. “We have to be really grateful Meb is performing so well this late in his career.”

Despite his past two years of surprising success, which includes winning the 2014 Boston Marathon with a personal record and setting the American marathon masters record, Keflezighi openly admits this is likely his last Olympic Trials, and definitely his last real shot at going to the Games. “If I really, really wanted to, I could probably make the trials in 2020, but this is my last chance at making the Olympic team,” he said. “That’s why I am up here [in Mammoth Lakes] for five weeks away from my family.”

Family is a large reason why he decided to return to the trials in the first place. He has three daughters, and he wants to give them one more memory of the Olympics, especially his youngest, who at 6 years old is too young to remember his run in London. “He wants to share this experience with his youngest daughter,” said Hawi Keflezighi, Meb's brother.

Speaking on the phone from a friend’s house in Mammoth Lakes, Keflezighi said he feels confident he will be in the mix for an Olympic spot.

He said he is healthy, something he’s struggled with at the past two trials. In 2007, he broke his hip during the race and was forced to drop out. And before winning the trials in 2012, he had to miss three weeks of training because of a foot injury. Older and wiser now, Keflezighi has learned to not overtrain. His plan follows nine-day cycles and he has reduced his mileage. "It's about more recovery days," he said. "When I look at what I was doing when I was younger, I can't do those workouts anymore. I used to be able to run a 15-mile tempo with hills at 4:46 per mile. I can't do that anymore so now I have to be smarter. My training is about consistency."

But perhaps just as important as his health, Keflezighi has a swagger that only comes with the veteran’s previous success. “If I make the team, great. If not, this race will not define my career,” he said. “It’s nice going into the race knowing that I have nothing to lose. If I could get another opportunity to represent my country, you know what? That would be great. But the journey itself has been amazing.”

Larsen, who started coaching Keflezighi in 1994 when the runner was a freshman at UCLA, shares that philosophy. “The fact that Meb is still in the hunt for making the team, isn’t that fun?" he said. "Gee, you know you just have to pinch yourself and say, ‘How could this be?’ I keep saying had I ended my career at every level that I was coaching I would have thought, ‘This is as good as it could be.’ But it just keeps getting better.”

Keflezighi and Larsen’s confidence doesn’t mean the race is going to be easy. Galen Rupp, 10,000-meter American record holder and Olympic silver medalist, will make his marathon debut at the trials. Rupp declared late, after qualifying at a half marathon in December. But Keflezighi said the new competition won’t change his strategy.

“There’s probably one less spot to compete for, but we know what Galen is going to do,” Keflezighi said. “If he wants to push early on then I’ll let it be. If I can stay healthy and my body can hold on we will see what happens. That’s what racing is.” When asked what his specific strategy would be, Keflezighi simply said, “just make the team.”

Nobody in the field has the same experience or expertise that Keflezighi will bring to the race. The reason why Keflezighi has had such a lengthy career is because of all the extra work he puts in outside of actually running.

But sooner or later the end of competition will come, even for Keflezighi, who is strongly hinting at a 2017 retirement. He is contemplating the Boston Marathon that year, but said that barring any injury he plans on running the New York City Marathon in November. “Maybe I will just run with the crowd in NYC. It would be fun,” he said.

Whether he makes the Olympic team or not, Keflezighi, his brother, Larsen—and many fans—all remain amazed the 40-year-old is back and favored to place in the top three. They truly feel like they are a part of something special and not taking these last moments of a storied career for granted.

“Here we are. It’s just so much fun,” Larsen said. “We are enjoying every moment of this.”

Larsen, who is 77, couldn’t resist taking another crack at his and his athlete’s age. “I keep telling people that I am too old to coach and he is too old to run. But somehow we muddle through.”

Kit FoxSpecial Projects EditorKit has been a health, fitness, and running journalist for the past five years.

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